Vietnam - Hue November 24, 2002

A quick flight down to Hue, about 500 km away, let us to quite another type of boat – this a river boat for carrying goods and people up and down the river.

Hue was the capital of Vietnam for many years, and the center of power for the emperors. They lived in an area called the Forbidden Purple City, and never left their enclosure. As you can imagine, after 145 years of this, they were pretty out-of-touch with their subjects. This is the tomb of the Khai Dinh. He reigned for 9 years. His tomb took 11 years to build.

L He left many statues of mandarins at his tomb, all nicely carved and lifesize. He died in 1926 .

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The home of the emperors of central Vietnam, Hue was a center of power from 1802 to 1945 when Ho Chi Minh declared independence from France. It took 9 years, but in 1954, the French finally left, having been thoroughly routed by Ho Chi Minh and his followers. The emperors had a lavish compound, and met only with mandarins. The French really ruled the country for most of the time the emperors were in power.

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